Master! Master!
Hialti, within.
Has the flood washed into the shippon?
Blanid. Nay;
There is a pitiful shrieking in the dark.
Hialti, within.
It is the Crier; break sleep no more for that.
Thorgerd, within.
The ox-goad shall reward you when dawn comes ...
Wake us once more and you shall waken often,
Ay, very often, until you dread to sleep ...
Blanid.
I heard that trailing cry like maddened fir-boughs;
Now I hear words—is there a woman's wail?
Thorgerd, within.
A woman? Let her drown.
Hialti, within. I come. I come.
Reach down the lantern and light it, light it, light it.
Standing on a stool, Blanid lifts a lantern from a nail in one of the beams and, carrying it to the hearth, kneels there and seeks to light it with an ember.
Thorgerd, within.
You shall not go; it is a lie of hers;
You shall not go ...
A brief struggle in the sleeping-chamber is heard.
Hialti, within. So; stand you from the door.
Get donned; make up the fire; have water boiling;
And send the wench to lie in your warm form
Ready to cherish what stiffening thing I bring.
Blanid, to herself, lighting the lantern and smiling mischievously.
Yea, I shall cherish a stiffening thing for her.
Lantern, you are as dim as a little soul,
Yet the least soul can light a man to Heaven,
And you might lead him home; but I am like God,
Who makes souls from His aches—I will not ache,
You shall not have a soul, I suck it back.
She extinguishes the light. Hialti hurries in half-dressed.
Hialti.
Canst find a rope?
Blanid, pointing. Behind the settle there.
To herself.
'Tis a good rope and has two rotten strands;
'Twas meant to make good tinder on the morrow.
The Voice.
Help; help! A light! Come for the woman's sake!
Hialti, holding out his hand for the lantern.
Hearken and haste; give me the lantern—now!
Blanid.
Master, it will not light....
Hialti. Will the storm pause?
The Voice.
Ohohey! Ohohey!
Hialti.
Will that dark Crier linger? I must go.
She catches his outstretched hand and kisses it ere, snatching it away, he flings the house door wide open and dashes outside. Soon the sound of his footsteps is lost in the storm.
Blanid, relighting the lantern and starting up.
Master, Master, the light!